Martin Freeman Talks About Shooting ‘Black Panther 2’ without Chadwick Boseman
“There’s no denying that there’s a significant breach today at the centre of it.”
Martin Freeman, who portrayed Everett Ross in Black Panther, has spoken out about working on Black Panther: Wakanda Forever without Chadwick Boseman, who died in the film’s production.
While returning to set without Boseman was difficult, Freeman explained to Collider that there are so many stories to tell in Wakanda and people to develop that a sequel made sense.
“It was strange, that side of it,” Freeman said. “On the one hand, you’re making the film that you’re there to make, and there are scores and scores of people on set, joined in this endeavor to make the film. But there’s also no question that, at the heart of it, there’s quite a gap now, and you felt it.
“With full respect to Ryan Coogler and everybody else, who’s sweating and bleeding to get this thing done properly, it was fun. It was enjoyable. I was in and out of it quite quickly, I think. But I like playing Everett Ross. He’s a very fun character to play. He’s nicely simpatico for the story. He’s a good guy. But it was odd. Of course, it was odd with Chadwick [Boseman] not being there. There’s no way around that.
“I think everyone would find it pretty strange and sad, but at the same time, life things don’t just end. It’s not like, ‘Well, that’s happened, so we just all have to go off and never do it again.’ But it was odd. When he passed, I thought, ‘Okay, well maybe there just won’t be another one.’ But there are still other stories to tell within that world and other great characters. I think, and I hope that we’ve made a good film. I trust Ryan Coogler a lot.”
Freeman originally signed on for three films – Captain America: Civil War, Black Panther, and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever – but he like the fact that being a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe means he may be called back at any time.

“I enjoy being surprised and approached and being asked, ‘Do you want to come and do this thing?’ “It’s simply for fun,” remarked Freeman. “It’s a beautiful world to dangle your toe in, and having the option to come in and out is ideal for me.”
“I don’t love being on the same thing, all the time. I don’t love that. I’m not saying anything particularly surprising there. I think people know that I like going and having an adventure over there, and then coming back, and then going over there and doing that. That feels very, very lucky to me, that I get to do that.”
